Excessive data usage - 43GB in 1 month...?

[Neb5]

Android system says I used 43.32 GB between 1-28th of February 2023. This drained my databank. I have read information and blog posts re settings and did have some settings on 'high' and set to 'download using cellular data' . However, I still don't understand how it was possible that I used 43 GBs in a month of max ~25hrs of streaming when wifi was NA, and given I downloaded/saved 2-5 songs. One reference that lead me to believe this: https://www.androidauthority.com/spotify-data-usage-918265/ - they state that with the 'high' audio quality setting it would take 13.8hrs to use 1GB. I recharged my phone to get 10GBS data yesterday (5/3), and have not streamed any music and somehow have used 7.91 GBs. ~8GBs in one day, without use...?

[Neb5]

Hey @Neb5,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome.

You can set different settings for listening to podcasts and music (Streaming quality). Keep in mind that the higher the stream quality, the more data will be used. You can learn more about this here. 

It's important to note that you can reduce your data usage by toggling on Data Saver from the app's settings on your mobile device. To find out how you can do this, along with other tips, we'd recommend taking a look at this page.

On another note, some podcasts feature videos and if you've listened to the podcasts with the video on - that might be the reason for this. You can’t turn these videos off, but they only play when you have them on-screen. If you navigate away from the podcast or lock your device, only the audio plays.

If you don't notice any difference by trying this, we'd suggest that you get in touch with our Customer Support team. They'll be able to have a look backstage and see what might have caused this data drain. You can find out how to contact them here.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you need anything else. 

[Lyubka]

Hey @Neb5,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome.

You can set different settings for listening to podcasts and music (Streaming quality). Keep in mind that the higher the stream quality, the more data will be used. You can learn more about this here. 

It's important to note that you can reduce your data usage by toggling on Data Saver from the app's settings on your mobile device. To find out how you can do this, along with other tips, we'd recommend taking a look at this page.

On another note, some podcasts feature videos and if you've listened to the podcasts with the video on - that might be the reason for this. You can’t turn these videos off, but they only play when you have them on-screen. If you navigate away from the podcast or lock your device, only the audio plays.

If you don't notice any difference by trying this, we'd suggest that you get in touch with our Customer Support team. They'll be able to have a look backstage and see what might have caused this data drain. You can find out how to contact them here.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you need anything else. 

[#4]

I've been using Spotify Premium for many years. One day, just listening to podcasts on my way to and from work Spotify used up over 6 GIGABYTES (yes, gigs not megs). Average background data usage is 200-500 megabytes. I contacted Spotify support, sent them a bunch of requested data, screenshots and all and their "solution" is?"This is expected data usage." Bye, bye Spotify! I can't afford it...

[EclipseJRB]

Plan: Premium (Duo)

Location: United States

Device: Pixel 5

Yesterday my Spotify app used 3GB+ of data in a single day despite me listening for maybe 40 minutes over cellular data. My data plan is pay-per-GB so this cost me $30. Controlling data usage is nothing new to me. Data saver is on, downloading is wi-fi only, stream over cellular set to low, etc. Even if it did stream continuously while I wasn't listening getting to over 3GB with those settings is impossible.

Looks like it has been around 2 years since a post like this one and I'm not getting any responses on Spotify support. Figured it was worth a shot to check if anyone knows of a path to get Spotify to comp a few months to mitigate their mistake before I cancel the subscription for a while to make up for what the app's glitch cost me.

[EclipseJRB]

Thanks for combining threads, I missed this one. It's helpful to know that someone with an even worse level of data usage didn't get anywhere with it. I'll still ask support one more time just to see if they can figure out what the app actually did, but I will cancel in the meantime.

In my case I know all the settings were done correctly to restrict data use and block video over cellular. In case it helps anyone else find a common cause, the one noteworthy detail about my case is that I was listening through Android Auto that day. So perhaps somehow that caused it to mess up.

[VinKennedy]

If Spotify is running, whether I'm listening or not, it's absolutely hammering my internet connection. To give an idea of the scale, it's currently downloading between 2.0 and 2.8Mbps despite my having nothing playing and not being in the process of downloading any music.

[VinKennedy]

Now fixed. Decided to uninstall Spotify. No uninstaller! Downloaded IObit installer and removed every trace of Spotify. Reinstalled and data usage is back to normal.

If you follow this procedure remove IObit installer immediately after using it as 24 hours later it turns into vile, creepy nagware that you'll hate.

[Sytse_vliegen]

Plan

Premium

Country

Netherlands

Device

Samsung galaxy A32

Operating System

Android 13

My Question or Issue

This week I got a notification about data usage. Spotify has used 8.7 GB of data in 8 days. My listening habits have been the same the past 1.5 year. Never had any high data usage compared to this week. I do not save any music localy but so far this never has been an issue. I listend this week i think about 2 to 2.5 hours of music daily on my phone. streaming it all. Also since this week spotify stops playing after 6 or 7 songs while locked and in my pocket. I have to restart the app twice before it continues to play music. Never had this problem too. I already have deteled my cache and reinstalled the app. checking today and tomorrow if the app still uses this insane amount of data. My streaming quality is automatic, always been. I have disabled moving album art and animations. 

What could cause this sudden high use of data?

[kenvanhende]

Plan

Free/Premium

Country

Belgium

Device

Huawai P 30 lite

Operating System

Android

My Question or Issue

My data usage has risen a lot the last few months. I have been using the Spotify app for years now... and streaming music has always taken me a couple of 100MB of data per hour of streaming. 

Lately an hour of streaming takes me more then 2GB of data. 

Of course I've checked my settings. I've got data-saver on. Put all my quality settings for streaming to low. Turned of the video option. Turned of the downloading on mobile data option... Still 15 minutes of streaming just used up +500 MB of data. 

Been looking for online solutions, but keep getting the same data-saving advice... Any-one with the same problems? Solutions?  

[_qyqi-iyd7pp]

Hello! I have been a premium subscriber for many years and this never happened before and I didn't change my settings. I notice that Spotify has used 3.44GB data in 3 weeks. But I've only used the app on mobile data roughly 3.5 hours in 3 weeks. I'm always home on my wifi. I'm annoyed because yesterday I had to buy one extra GB for 15$ and it went by in an hour! This has never happened to me before. I've checked my settings and it's set to adjust the quality whether it's using mobile data or WiFi. It's always been like that and it was always ok. Why suddenly Spotify used so many data??? Help! Thanks!